


The Next Chapter

by Of_Princes_and_Savages



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Babies, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Little bit of timey-wimey AU business but it's Rumbelle, Mother's Day, Oh yes, Rumbelle Mother's Day Mania, You know what it's about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-02-27 06:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18733603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Of_Princes_and_Savages/pseuds/Of_Princes_and_Savages
Summary: Belle wakes up late one morning to find her house out of sorts...





	The Next Chapter

**Author's Note:**

> I finished this fic so ridiculously early I'm sure my current dry spell is some sort of punishment. On the other hand, I love how it turned out and am very pleased. Enjoy!

Something was wrong...

For the first time in months, Belle swam to conciousness from a deep sleep. Her head was foggy and her eyes still closed, the blankets drawn around her in a snug cocoon she was not inclined to break out of. And yet, something was wrong with this picture.

Oh.

It was because she was the mother of a six-year-old and a ten-month-old, respectively, and when she wiggled her head from under the covers to peek at Rumple's old-fashioned alarm clock, she saw it was well-past eight in the morning. Almost eight-thirty. And yet the house was completely silent.

 _That_ would be what was wrong with this picture.

* * *

At first they'd only meant to visit when Rumple's curse suddenly broke. They'd been heading out for a day of sight-seeing when his ankle just gave out, the spells that usually kept it healed falling away without explanation.

Well there was an explanation in the end, but it was very complicated and Belle still didn't understand what all went into it.

There was now two, coexisting timelines, the future-set one had Henry Mills married with a ten-year-old daughter and a grown-up Robyn Mills/Margot engaged to Alice/Tilly, the latter of which had rather forcibly befriend Rumple now because they'd been close in the other timeline. (She was a dear thing, Belle liked her and knew she'd grown on Rumple despite his best efforts.) And that Rumple had done something brave and self-sacrificing to stop yet another Rumpelstiltskin, this one all madness and Dark One, from something nefarious and wound up breaking the curse in both realms.

It was a lot to unpack and Belle was willing to chalk it up to "alternate universe" and leave it at that. It was cleaner that way.

Gideon was nearly five, then, and somehow met and became very fast friends with Neal Nolan in their "visit" to Storybrooke. That was what encouraged Belle and Rumple to stay put for a time, a few years even, and let their son continue developing this new friendship. They both liked the color blue, they both liked chocolate candy, and had a keen interest in dinosaurs. Although Snow tended to be skittish around Rumple, she proposed the idea of letting Gideon attend kindergarten with Neal when enrollment came around in the fall.

And so, they'd stayed.

* * *

Sitting up, Belle pushed all the blankets she'd hoarded in her sleep away. A silent house at eight-thirty, on a weekend yet. Something was definitely unusual.

The baby monitor was silent. Belle grabbed for her robe and wiggled into it, belatedly noticing Rumple's side of the bed was empty and his cane wasn't hooked on the nightstand. Aha, that answered a few questions then.

Rumple was, unsurprisingly, a very doting father. He was also very protective. He'd alternated between delighted and terrified when Belle told him she was pregnant with their second child last year, had even booked some fresh sessions with Archie to get him over some freshly-awakened old fears about fatherhood.

Much like with Gideon, she and Rumple hadn't exactly been trying to conceive. She was glad for the chance to have a normal pregnancy, charmed by the idea of having another little one, and also: Worried what her son would think.

* * *

Gideon looked between them, brown eyes unreadable, and sandy hair falling in his eyes because it grew faster than they could keep it trimmed. Then their son looked at where Belle had her hands folded over her stomach and tilted his head to the side. "What'd you eat to put a baby in your tummy?"

"I..." Belle wasn't sure what to say to that. "Um...well-"

"What do you think, Gideon?" Rumple intervened smoothly. "What do you think about being a big brother?"

Gideon considered the matter carefully. "Do I have to share my toys?"

"Sometimes. Not at first, though, they'll be much too small and clumsy to play with toys like yours."

"Will they have to stay in my room?"

"No, you'll each have your own room."

Gideon nodded. "Okay then. I'll do it. Maybe if they like dinosaurs, I'll let them play with some of mine."

Belle smiled, pulling her firstborn into her arms and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "That's a wonderful idea, darling, I know you'll be a terrific brother."

* * *

First, she poked her head into Gideon's room. It was empty, the blankets kicked halfway off the bed and the pillow smushed into the corner by the wall.

The room was neat apart from one corner. Dinosaur toys from a very complicated society that lived alongside plush animals were in a "city" made from stacks of books, legos, and a few empty cereal boxes and the like. It had been constructed during Neal's last visit, when it was raining and the boys had to play inside, and had been left up on the grounds that they'd had to leave in the middle of a very crucial moment, the battle for the Queen of the Universe. It was down to a death-match between an orange triceratops figure Neal had taken home with him, (he'd insisted it was a girl, like Cera from the Land Before Time,) and Gideon's Raggedy Ann.

(Raggedy Andy had been put on the bookshelf because he'd been interfering in the match, apparently.)

Gideon wasn't anywhere in the room, though. If Rumple and Gideon were up, it was reasonable to assume that they'd taken baby Gabrielle with them, but Belle still padded down the hall to the next room.

When they'd been decorating Gideon's room when he was a baby, Belle allowed Rumple to "print" lots of little stars around the upper parts of the walls, giving it an evening look Gideon was rather proud of when they'd moved in. When Belle was expecting Gabrielle, Rumple had hired a Mrs. Fitzherbert to paint one corner of the room with a thick trunk and leafy branches and installed the rocking chair in that corner, making it look like you were sitting under a tree. It was very pretty, Belle had gotten embarassingly teary over it.

* * *

In a solid marriage with one child and another on the way, Rumpelstiltskin could still be anxious. Archie had diagnosed him as having an actual anxiety disorder and said if the therapy didn't help there was some medications they could try, which explained a lot, probably why tears springing to Belle's eyes when he showed her the rocking chair set up under a beautiful oak tree painted in one corner of the baby's new room was a bad thing.

"Well?" She could see the worry swimming in his eyes and scrubbed at her own with the heel of her palm.

There was a lot Belle found she wasn't crazy about in an actual pregnancy. Including how everything seemed to want to swell, her breasts, her belly, her thighs, her feet. (She was going to have to get rid of so many shoes she'd had a crying spell over it last week.) She was officially halfway there with a noticeably bump to show for it, and assorted back pains and nausea and insatiable craving for carrots for some reason that had her worried the baby was going to come out with rabbit ears. Not to mention these hormones that made her cry at the drop of a hat.

"It's beautiful!" she said wetly. Rumple gave the world's most contained sigh of relief and wrapped her up in his arms, pressing his nose against the crown of her head. "I love it Rumple, it's-It's beautiful!"

"I'm very glad," Rumple murmured, brushing a kiss over her forehead. "It's just a little hard to tell when you're crying. Would you like to test it out?"

Belle bit her lip, nuzzling against Rumple's throat. His aftershave smelled spicy and his body was warm where she pressed against it, her hands curling over his shoulders and up his neck. He'd grown his hair out a bit, it was enough to floof out a bit at the ends and tangle in her fingers again, something she hadn't known how badly she missed until now. She would be happy to sit in the beautiful rocking chair and imagine a few months down the road where she would be sitting in it nursing a beautiful newborn baby, but...

"Later, I think..." she said slowly. "First I want to thank you."

Rumple gave a small frown and oh yes, even that was turning her on a little. Why though? "You already did..."

Belle leaned up and pressed a kiss to the corner of his little frown. "We have three hours to ourselves until GIdeon gets home, please take me to bed so I can explain it to you better."

It was not a speedy trip, not between her newfound waddle and his bad leg, but they did manage to get half undressed by the time they reached the bed. The discomfort and moodswings of pregnancy Belle didn't appreciate, but she'd never once doubted her body image. It was very difficult when Rumple was so...attentive.

* * *

There was no one on the second floor of the house. So, that meant they were either downstairs, or she'd have to start panicking, but it was likely the former so that's where she went. At least...that was probably the answer.

A peaceful Storybrooke was still Storybrooke, after all, the original citizens were nothing if not vigilant.

She heard a sudden, delighted squeal from the vicinity of the kitchen when she reached the foot of the stairs, followed by Gideon none-too-quietly scolding his baby sister: "Gabby hush! We're being quiet!"

* * *

The fairies' healing spells _had_ fixed Belle up so that it was like her pregnancy with Gideon had never happened. All she'd had were the rather traumatic memories and a soft, stuffed bear she'd bought as mementos.

So, as if it were her first pregnancy, Belle had the delightful experience of suffering twelve hours of waiting in a hospital for her baby to make her grand appearance. She'd been the envy of every mother she knew, later on, when she said she was surprised labor hadn't hurt as much as she was expecting, though. Apparently Gideon's magicially-induced, speedy delivery had been three times as painful as the real thing.

Lovely.

Rumple had, until then, been remarkably calm whenever Belle was freaking out over a pregnancy complication, from Braxton-Hicks contractions to her swollen hands that kept ehr from wearing her wedding ring. (The doctor had said it was _normal_ for a little swelling everywhere, yay.) The actual delivery, though, his hands were sweaty in her grip and he'd done his best to stay out the way with a bewildered look on his face.

But it was done, and a squirmy, squalling baby was dropped into Belle's arms, the sweetest thing in the world to see after all was said and done. A nurse had cleaned the baby up and brought her back in a soft blanket, shown Belle how to get the baby to latch onto her breast, (something she hadn't needed to learn with Gideon, as he'd been bottle-fed because she was dry,) and then left them alone in the hospital room with their new daughter.

"You're sure about the name?" Rumple asked, stroking a finger over her chubby cheek once she was full and dozy in Belle's arms. "Gabrielle Gold?"

She'd been very careful to include Rumple in the naming of this child, after he'd let it slip in a therapy session he didn't appreciate Gideon being named after a book character that slayed evil sorcerers very much.

He'd tried to cover by adding it was understandable at the time that he didn't get a choice and that his boy was certainly a Gideon now, but it was still the truth, which was all Belle wanted. (Even if it sucked.) She'd briefly considered Colette for a girl, but vetoed it because she wasn't keen on naming people after dead relatives. Never had been, especially not when it took nearly an hour explaining to poor little Neal he was named after Baelfire which included a discussion of Enchanted Forest names versus Storybrooke names. They lived in a complicated town even before it was the hub between worlds. And timelines.

They had a few names picked out for a boy, but the only name that really spoke to Belle was Gabrielle for a daughter. "Do you not like it?"

"No, no, I think it's lovely," Rumple shook his head. "I just want to be sure."

"Is this a 'names have power' thing or are you worried other children will make fun of her?" Belle asked, leaning back against the pillows. She was as exhausted as their daughter was, all this thinking was wearing her out.

Rumple just shrugged. "Growing up with a name like Rumpelstiltskin makes you paranoid. It _is_ a very good name for someone I suspect will be a very big handful when she finds her feet, though. Gabrielle it is."

Belle opened her eyes as he eased their daughter out of her arms, presumably so she could get some sleep. "Why do you suppose that?" she asked.

He laughed, leaning over to kiss her. "Because she looks just like her mother."

* * *

The kitchen was surprisingly tidy, and smelled like blueberry pancakes.

Gideon was standing by Gabrielle's high chair, shushing her uselessly while his baby sister squealed and kicked her little feet around, smacking her hands on the tray. Belle didn't know what was so funny, at least until Rumple stood up from where he was crouched on the other side of the island with a mass of something in a paper towel.

He threw what she just identified as a dropped pancake into the trash and looked up, meeting her eyes. He smiled, little crinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes. "Good morning."

Gideon was less welcoming: "Aww, Gabby!" he moaned. "You woke Mama up!"

Gabrielle only gurgled in response, smiling and waving at her mama without shame.

"No, I woke up all on my own," Belle chuckled, coming over to hug her little boy apologetically. He had flour dusting the front of his pajamas, and his hands were a bit stained from handling berries. "You did too good a job, Gideon, it was too quiet."

"Really? How can you wake up if it's too quiet?"

"It's a parent thing," Rumple said, going back to his station at the steaming griddle. "Now would you like to try flipping another pancake, son?"

Gideon scampered off, climbing up on a stool for a boost in height. Belle picked Gabrielle up out of her chair and peppered kisses all over her sweet little face until she giggled, then glanced around the kitchen again. There was a plate of bacon on the counter, and a tray set up for what was obviously supposed to be breakfast in bed, with a small vase holding a single rose.

"What's the occassion?" she asked. "It's not my birthday."

Rumple threw his free arm around Gideon to keep the boy from toppling off the stood when he crowed, "Happy Mother's Day!" and wobbled precariously. Mother's Day?

"This is your surprise breakfast," Rumple explained with a slight chuckle to his voice, gesturing about with a spatula. "We've a couple of pancakes ready to eat if you'd like to take a seat."

"Did we still surprise you?" Gideon asked hopefully, and Belle half-hoped he'd be the only brown-eyed child in the bunch. Those big brown eyes he and his father both had were deadly.

"I'm absolutely surprised, sweetheart," Belle promised. Truthfully, she was so busy setting up a library fundraiser this week that she'd forgotten about Mother's Day entirely, so she couldn't help but be surprised, could she? "It looks wonderful. How about you help drag your sister's chair over to the table and bring me a plate?"

* * *

Gideon insisted on taking the dishes away after breakfast, all by himself. Rumple took Belle's hand and pressed a kiss against her palm.

"I heard a noise on the baby monitor when he tried to get Gabrielle out of her crib on his own," he explained. "He thought she wanted to help. He's a very devoted big brother, our Gideon."

Belle smiled at him, then at their daughter who needed to have the banana-blueberry mash wiped off her smiling face. "Well it was a marvelous surprise, thank you."

Gabrielle gave a gummy smile and flapped her hands.

Rumple laughed, pressing another kiss, this time to Belle's fingers. "You're sure you want them to outnumber us?" he teased.

Belle looked at Gabrielle's messy, smiling face and watched Gideon scurry back to them with a pancake, eating it like one might a slice of pizza as he climbed back into his chair. She looked to her husband, and thought briefly of those test results they'd just gotten back that confirmed next mothers day, there would be three little Golds scurrying underfoot, making messes, waking them up at ungodly hours...

"I can't wait."

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon the third baby is my OC Oliver. He would have been the second born but I just want Rumple and Belle to have a daughter for reasons I can't properly express, but the main purpose in this story is Belle Gold getting all the love and attention she is due.
> 
> (And on Rumple's part that's partly why they had more kids. 'XD)


End file.
